While the instability in Ferguson, Missouri continues over the police shooting of Michael Brown, stocks at Taser International, a leading Conducted Electrical Weapons used by law enforcement, military and security around the world, has had it’s own fluctuations, but suddenly spiked in the midst of this turmoil.
Since January 2014, Taser stock (TASR) has been pumping like a heartbeat until May and then bottomed out in July soon after the release of Q2 earnings. However, since recent developments in Ferguson, Taser has seen some spikes in stock pricing, one on August 15th from 12.71 to 13.91, and again today closing at 14.68, a 5.54 percent increase.
Coincidentally, these spikes came on the heels of critical news releases from Ferguson, and according to an expert Brian Ruttenbur noted in Bloomberg, interest in TASER might be speculation that more police departments are planning to purchase more technology for their officers. Whatever the reason, NASDAQ even jumped on board and recommended the stock as a good buy.
Technology we’re speaking about for officers include TASER body camera AXON® and TASER CAM HD, and EVIDENCE.COM, a cloud-based digital evidence system.
Read: TASER Q2 report here at AZTB
If you are wondering which local police departments are totally on board with this wearable tech, look to the cities of Mesa, Gilbert and Peoria, with more on the way-and it’s making a difference in the need to use of force.
According to a pilot study completed by TASER and City of Mesa, officers experienced a 40 percent decrease in complaints and 75 decrease in use of force complaints.
Another study, reported by The New York Times, conducted by the Police Foundation and Rialto, California police department, the use of body cameras resulted in an 88 percent decline in reports filed against officers and officers used force 60 percent less often.
Read more about TASER technology from AZTB.
